Maharaj review: A promising debut lost in the circus that is censorship

After delaying its release by a week, the Gujarat High Court overturned yesterday the decision to stay the release of Siddharth P Malhotra’s period drama Maharaj, which marks the acting debut of Aamir Khan’s son Junaid Khan.

An adaptation of Saurabh Shah’s 2014 Gujarati book of the same name, it is based on the seminal Maharaj Libel Case of 1862, argued at the Supreme Court of Bombay. Maharaj Jadunath, a prominent leader of the Vaishnavite Pushimarg sect, had filed a defamation case against journalist and social reformer Karsandas Mulji for alleging in his newspaper Satyaprakash that he sexually exploited scores of female devotees in the name of religion.

The landmark judgment put an end to sexually abusive practices such as charan seva, which compelled families to willingly offer their women to godmen for divine sexual pleasure.

In 131 minutes, the Netflix film follows Karsan (Junaid Khan) as he takes on JJ (Jaideep Ahlawat), the head priest of one of the most powerful havelis (places of worship) in 19th-century Mumbai. His trigger is his fiancée Kishori’s (Shalini Pandey) suicide after he breaks off their engagement on seeing JJ have sex with her in the garb of charan seva.

Despite it being a deeply rooted, socially acceptable practice that followers blindly peddle as an act of devotion, it deeply disgusts, disturbs Karsan, as it should. The problem, however, is that the film’s portrayal makes you believe that in spite of being raised within the community, Karsan was oblivious to it until it hit home.

What’s also bizarre is Kishori’s sudden change of heart. Karsan’s arguments fail to make her see JJ for who he is but his trying to seduce her pubescent sister suddenly shatters her rose-tinted glasses. If charan seva was indeed an offering of the body to the gods, sacred enough for her to feel fortunate to be chosen for, why the rage on seeing her sister want to do it too?

Junaid Khan is a little too sincere as Karsan, a man with enough sense and grit to question the norm even if it comes at the cost of social ostracisation. For a debutant, he is immensely watchable but what’s more remarkable is the way he, a nepo baby, has chosen to make his acting debut in an age of hyper paparazzi and publicity overdrive. No promotional gigs, no interviews, no song launches, Yash Raj Films didn’t even release Maharaj’s trailer.

A lot of it has to do with Hindu fringe groups demanding a pre-screening and subsequential ban on the film for showing a Hindu priest in poor light. But it isn’t just around Maharaj, Junaid Khan has never been too media-friendly. What’s also striking is his unconventional choice for his first movie and stepping into the Hindi film industry at the onset of his 30s, a rarity for star-sons wanting to be mainstream heroes.

As JJ, Jaideep Ahlawat aces the creepy, smug smile and the easy confidence of a sexual predator. However, Vipul Mehta’s screenplay gives his unscrupulous Maharaj little depth. The film spends a lot of time on amplifying his mythical aura and detailing his countless questionable sexual escapades but we are never told why he is the way he is, where he comes from, or what made him powerful beyond reason. Writers Vipul Mehta and Sneha Desai give JJ a towering stature, but no substance.

Despite it being a YRF film, the production design is atrocious. The kind that never lets you forget you’re watching actors pretending to be people they are not in a constructed setting that would be demolished the minute they’re done. The kind that shows producer Aditya Chopra didn’t have enough faith in the project to allot it a decent budget.

It’s easy to tell that Maharaj is the product of an age ruled by censorship. Social reformers are usually atheists, egalitarians, and staunch supporters of curiosity, agency, and inquiry. However, the film shows Karsan as a proud Vaishnav. Maharaj has scene after scene clarifying in great detail that his fight is against one man, not the entire sect. If there is JJ, the film also has a good priest to underline that not all apples in this basket are rotten.

In case you miss the on-the-nose messaging that Maharaj is soaked in, there is a lengthy disclaimer at the end that sings praises of the Vaishnavs through a voiceover. Brave filmmaking? There has never been a movie more afraid.

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